Why More Black Professionals Are Turning to Remote Work and Freelance Side Hustles (And Where They Can Start)

Simply put, remote work and side hustling allows Black employees to escape the usual office politics that can affect their productivity and career satisfaction.

According to diversity and equity expert Dr. Tiffany Jana, employees from underrepresented backgrounds often encounter subtle forms of exclusion in traditional office settings. Dr. Jana told The Wall Street Journal that minorities frequently endure microaggressions—from colleagues touching a Black person’s hair without permission to Asian workers being confused for another colleague.

Research published by Harvard Business Review (HBR) highlights how common these experiences can be. In one survey, more than two-thirds of the women of color surveyed reported being mistaken for administrative or custodial staff.1

Many respondents also described feeling pressure to carefully regulate their behavior and emotional expression to avoid reinforcing negative stereotypes.

“I have never felt like it has been okay for me to show emotion in any space,” said one African-American participant. “And it doesn’t matter what the emotion is—to be angry, to be sad, to be disappointed. Everything has to be calculated in terms of how I respond.”

Career coach Jermaine Murray told The LA Times that many of his Black clients view the remote environment as more objective, one in which performance is measured more by outcomes and less by office politics or social expectations.

Survey data appears to support that view. According to Future Forum, 83% of Black workers preferred flexible or remote schedules, and only 3% of Black employees working remotely wanted to return to the office full time, compared with 21% of White workers, due in part to workplace microaggressions and discrimination. 23

Future Forum also found that Black employees with flexible work arrangements reported substantial improvements in a sense of workplace belonging, stress management, and work-life balance.

Side hustles also help to close the wage gap

More and more professionals are supplementing traditional employment with freelance work and entrepreneurship, with some research pointing to additional income, greater flexibility, and increased career fulfillment as the primary motivators.

For many marginalized professionals, having a side hustle is actually an economic necessity. Nearly one in three Black women manage a side hustle or part-time job alongside their full-time jobs.4

Sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom has argued that the concept of the “hustle” actually carries a different meaning for many Black Americans because of longstanding wealth disparities and structural barriers to economic mobility.

In an essay for TIME Magazine, Cottom wrote, “A White family of four living at the poverty line has about $18,000 in wealth. A Black family at that threshold has negligible wealth. Everyone is hustling, but poor Black Americans are literally hustling from zero.”

Even among middle-income professionals, student loan debt, wage stagnation, and rising living costs can make it difficult to build long-term financial security through a salary alone.

Taking on extra work can be worth the effort for some marginalized professionals.

In one article published in Entrepreneur, DEI strategist Dr. Nika White argued that entrepreneurship has, in effect, “helped individuals who may have faced various types of systemic racism in the workforce to focus on building wealth for their own families instead of building wealth for a large company.”

Some professionals use side-hustle income to build what personal finance educator Jamila Souffrant calls an “FU Fund,” which is essentially “an emergency savings fund on crack.”

Unlike a traditional emergency fund, an FU Fund is intended to give individuals the financial flexibility to leave an unhealthy work environment, take a career break, or pursue entrepreneurial opportunities without immediate financial pressure, Souffrant explained in an interview with Business Insider.

Souffrant followed this strategy herself. While working full-time in corporate America, she built her financial education platform, Journey to Launch, on the side. She was eventually able to leave her corporate role and become a full-time entrepreneur before age 40 by aggressively saving and creating a one-year financial runway.

A remote side hustle is not a guaranteed path to independence, but it can create options. The most sustainable opportunities usually build upon existing professional skills, such as freelance consulting, copywriting, bookkeeping, or digital marketing.

While remote freelancing can reduce exposure to some workplace challenges, research suggests that certain gig platforms may introduce different forms of bias.

According to recent research from the Yale School of Management and the Harvard Business Review, not all freelance platforms are created equal. The gig economy has a hidden trap in the shape of algorithmic bias.

Researchers found that platforms relying heavily on anonymous 5-star customer ratings (like Uber or TaskRabbit) often amplify the unconscious racial biases of their users. The HBR study found that for the exact same quality of work, White workers averaged a 4.79 rating, while workers of color averaged a 4.72.

While that seems like a tiny gap, gig economy algorithms use those ratings to determine who gets visibility, and future customers use it as an indicator of the work’s quality. As Yale researchers found, this “spillover effect” amplifies the ratings gap for non-White workers by 80% and increases their earnings gap on the platform by up to 28%.5

To protect your peace and your paycheck, if possible, avoid side hustles where faceless algorithms or anonymous 5-star ratings dictate your worth. Instead, focus on relationship-based freelancing.

Even if you do use a gig platform, don’t rely solely on its algorithm for work. Market your services independently, develop your own client pipeline, and build long-term professional relationships.

Here are other tips for getting started:

Find clients who value diversity

In the corporate world, minorities often face a “network gap” lacking the built-in mentorship and sponsorships that White peers easily access. As a freelancer, you can avoid these corporate gatekeepers entirely.

While massive platforms like Fiverr and Upwork are great starting points, you can also market your side hustle on niche job boards and networks that explicitly champion diverse talent. Look into platforms such as:

• BlackFreelance
• POCIT (People of Color in Tech)
• Black Remote She

These platforms connect freelancers with companies that actively value and invest in diverse talent.

Establish boundaries with clients

Remote work doesn’t mean you will never encounter a difficult client, but a side hustle gives you the power to set strict boundaries and the power to fire clients who cross them.

As mentioned, some Black professionals worry about how they’re being perceived. If your field allows it, you may choose to communicate primarily through written channels such as email, Teams, or Slack. Establishing clear expectations around communication, response times, and project scope can help create healthier working relationships from the start.

Work with clients who value your expertise and professionalism. In freelancing, you often have the flexibility to complete a project and choose not to continue the relationship if it isn’t a good fit.

Weigh the long-term risks and benefits

Remote work and freelancing are not perfect solutions to workplace inequities. Professionals in these environments still face challenges, including client acquisition, income volatility, and platform bias.

There’s also a chance that juggling multiple jobs could lead to burn out, as our research has shown.

However, for many Black professionals, these flexible arrangements can provide greater control over how, where, and with whom they work.

Building a skills-based remote side hustle can also create opportunities for both financial growth and professional autonomy.

Dr. White’s Entrepreneur article warns that the wrong side hustle can lead to burnout and worsen mental health. This is why some Black professionals avoid gig economy apps (like driving or delivery) and focus on remote, high-income skills-based services, such as freelance writing, virtual bookkeeping, or digital marketing.

You can find similar gigs on the Side Hustles job board (especially the remote work hub), along with other gig platforms like Upwork.

Freelance consulting or writing

Freelance writing and consulting can help you bypass traditional corporate biases, control your schedule, and work directly with clients who value your expertise.

Gabrielle Pickens, CEO of consulting firm Pickens Creative, told Yahoo News that remote work acts as a veil over workplace bias.

“Everything from name bias, to hair bias, Black women are performing better because we don’t have to compromise cultural parts of our identity in order to ‘fit in’ at work,” Pickens said. “We’re safe at home, in our element, getting things done.”

Virtual bookkeeping and accounting

For Black mothers—who are statistically more likely to be the primary breadwinners of their families—asynchronous side hustles like bookkeeping offer the flexibility to balance childcare and career growth without a stressful commute.6

“It makes a difference for me as a mom,” said Dondrea Owens, who built her virtual accounting firm, Creative’s CFO, entirely online. “Working from home allows me a bit of calm because I’m not at a central location.”7

Digital marketing and SEO

Digital marketing is one of the most accessible remote side hustles for professionals who already have experience in communications, sales, customer success, or analytics.

Businesses of all sizes need help attracting customers online through search engine optimization (SEO), content creation, and marketing. Many projects are completed asynchronously, and unlike many gig-economy jobs, digital marketing rewards expertise rather than physical labor.

As you build experience and collect client testimonials, you can increase your rates, specialize in lucrative niches, and eventually transition from freelancer to agency owner or consultant.

Other side hustles to try

Of course, there are other entrepreneurial avenues to explore based on your set of skills and interests. For example, in recent years, offering car washing services was one of the fastest growing side hustles, with a 276% increase in online search interest.

Here’s what the data says about other trending side hustles.